Student group threatens Tibetans in Arunachal over rehabilitation policy
By Lobsang Tenchoe
DHARAMSALA Oct 11: Students’ United Movement of All Arunachal (SUMAA) avowed to take matters into their own hands if the government doesn’t roll back the Tibetan Rehabilitation Policy (TRP).
SUMAA staged an ‘Anti Tibetan Refugee Movement’ protest rally from Ganga to Mithun Gate in Arunachal Pradesh’s capital, Itangar on Tuesday and demanded the state government to roll back the Centre’s Tibetan Rehabilitation Policy, 2014.
“This is just the beginning. If the government doesn’t roll back its decision, we (SUMAA) will go to any extent. Arunachal is not a foreign land, first preference should be given to Indians,” SUMAA President Tagru Tame said after holding a protest rally against the government’s decision to implement the TRP, 2014.
The protesters shouted slogans such as ‘roll back TRP’ and ‘Tibetans go back’ while holding banners which read ‘Anti Tibetan Refugee Movement’.
In spite of assurance from the Arunachal Pradesh government and Chief Minister Pema Khandu that any policy decision on the Tibetan refugees settled in the state would be taken keeping the interest of the local people in mind, SUMAA firmly believes the government has adopted an anti-tribal policy.
Arunachal Pradesh has the fourth largest population of Tibetans in India and as the self-styled student group avows to take matters into their hands, it puts the Tibetans in harms way.
The student group had earlier released a list of all the shops owned by Tibetans with their names in the Capital Complex area after checking documents of all the shop owners in the complex and openly threatened to target and forcefully evict them. This prompted the District Magistrate to declare the ‘Anti Tibetan Refugee Movement’ illegal.
The Tibetan Rehabilitation Policy Act was formalized by the Central government in 2014. Arunachal Pradesh decided to implement the central policy in August.
